NBA Daily Dribbles: Shaq Fu Down for the Count

What I’m Reading

• So Shaq had surgery today on his injured thumb. The timetable for his return is slated to be 6-8 weeks. Cause for concern?

• If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em take their bench warmers off their hands. Well, it looks like the Celtics have adopted a new philosophy after an embarrassing loss to the Nets over the weekend. Is Tony Battie the answer?

• Chris Bosh has some options coming up this off season. Kevin Durant plans on making a strong push to get him to join the Thunder.

• Things aren’t going so well down in South Beach. And if Dwyane Wade leaves after the season? Well, it might actually sink.

What I Think About It

Shaq

• 6-8 weeks is a long time for the Big Fella. That Jamison trade is looking better and better every day.

Of course, he didn’t exactly set the bar high when he started his Cavs career by taking twelve shots and hitting precisely zero of them.

But regardless, he’s going to be a crucial part of Cleveland’s front line moving forward. Had they not acquired him, we’d be looking at a much less formidable Cavs team.

Luckily for Cleveland, help will be on its way in the next few weeks as the thirty-day window of not being able to sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas slowly shuts.

It’s clear that he’ll be returning and will offer some relief for the Cavs’ front court.

As for Shaq, he might have a hard time coming back from this injury. He’s likely to miss the rest of the regular season, so he won’t have any “conditioning” games to get back in basketball shape before the playoffs.

A lot of weight will fall on his broad shoulders to maintain his body while he’s recovering.

Celtics

• To put it simply, no. Tony Battie is not the answer.

The answer for the Celtics should have come at the trade deadline.

But it didn’t, and here we are. The Celtics just dropped a miserable one to the Nets. The NETS. Are we looking at the ’06-’07 Celtics, a team that at one point lost eighteen straight?

Not quite, but Boston fans can’t be feeling too optimistic about their team’s post-season hopes right now.

The team lacks any sort of energy and enthusiasm reminiscent of the title year.

Things need to turn around quick before the window for this team closes and the ice beneath Doc River’s feet thins.

• Since it is unlikely that Chris Bosh will take a hometown discount for Oklahoma City, which is neither his hometown nor his current location, the cards are stacked against the Thunder acquiring the coveted free agent.

But that won’t stop them from trying.

It won’t be hard to convince Bosh that his services, along with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, etc. would instantly render the Thunder a heavy contender in the West.

But it will be hard to convince him to take the roughly $12 million that OKC has to offer due to salary cap restrictions.

Of course, a sign and trade is always a possibility—the most likely scenario in which Bosh ends up as a member of the Thunder—but it in all likelihood, Green would be the odd man out and would be sent to Toronto in the deal.

In that case, how much better would the team actually be?

There is no question that Bosh is a superstar and would undoubtedly help the Thunder immediately, but the team has significantly improved every year since its inception. Who’s to say that the current nucleus has hit its ceiling?

• Being 95% sure that Dwyane Wade will be returning to Miami, as Heat owner Micky Arison claims to be, is one thing.

Being 5% sure that he won’t is another.

In short, a Dwyane Wade-less Miami Heat would be disastrous for the city.

As it is, the team is on the outside looking in regarding its playoff hunt. Losers of four in a row, Miami is currently ninth in the conference with a sub-.500 29-31 record.

If Wade leaves, then ladies and gentleman I’d like to now present to you the “2010-2011 New Jersey Nets!"

Alright, maybe they’d get ten wins. But still.

Miami cannot afford to lose its only hope for success in Wade.

I do believe that he will be returning and will be the main recruiter for any free agents that he feels will help him in his quest for a second title.

However, if he bolts, 2012 might be coming a little early for South Beach.

PD

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